


if only

by lebin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Typical Violence, F/F, NSFW, Pirate AU, but ill have the major character death warning just bc lol, but its hard to not have some steamy moments.........., did she actually die? kinda? maybe? who knows. ;), for rosebird week 2020, i'm so sorry i just wanted to make it wholesome/painful, ish, lots of AUs, qrow is mostly just mentioned but i think he'll probably appear so., the violence isnt too graphic tho, theyre disasters for each other but summer will always have the upper hand bc i said so, uhhhhhhhhhhh this is rlly gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25948204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lebin/pseuds/lebin
Summary: for rosebird week 2020! i'm going to do my best to make something for them all. was originally going to try and draw for everything but writing is significantly less effort for me, and there arent enough rosebird fics, so hopefully this will be some nice content for ppl lmao.day 1 - pirate auday 2 - their goodbyesday 3 - soccer moms/soccer auday 4 - royalty auday 5 - memoriesday 6 - awkward reunionday 7 - greek gods auday 8 - free!
Relationships: Raven Branwen/Summer Rose
Kudos: 13





	1. day 1

**Author's Note:**

> in which raven is a pirate and summer is a student living on patch. summer stumbles upon a ship near her house.... u kno what happens next. ;)

Summer was intrigued by this ship that had suddenly docked in a hidden cove near where she currently lived on Patch. If she didn't know any better, she'd assume it was a pirate ship. It certainly did look the part. It was a bit tattered by all means, with a flag with a mysterious symbol on it.

She did know better, though, because pirates shouldn't be coming to Patch of all places. There wasn't much to steal. So why? Yet still, she was so curious she felt the need to investigate it.

So she waited until the middle of the night, and managed to get on board without making too much noise.

She stopped herself. It was odd. There seemed to be nobody there. Wood creaking slightly beneath her feet, she made a tentative step forward. Was the ship abandoned? Did it happen to have any treasure on it? If she was still a teenager, she'd probably be more excited about this, but instead, she was finding herself almost laughing at the thought. Here she was at maybe 2 in the morning, investigating a mysterious ship that seemed to be abandoned docked a 5 minute walk from her home. She was supposed to be a model student that was the pinnacle of intelligence, but she was actively making a very dumb decision. Someone had to be on this ship. They probably knew it so well they could tell just by some intuition.

Was she going to die tonight? Maybe. Honestly, she was kind of excited. There was no telling why, though.

-

It was the middle of the night. Raven had her ship docked at a small island off the coast of Vale. She had intended to take this time to rest, but she had a feeling something was wrong. It wasn't anything in particular, though. However, the fact that she _couldn't_ tell what was wrong was worrying her. She had sent her crew off onto the island for the week, and thus she was alone. After taking a moment to sort her thoughts, she realized exactly what was wrong.

She was not alone on her ship tonight.

Someone was there, an intruder of some sort. She quickly jumped out of her bed, and grabbed her sword that had been resting on the table in her quarters. Not particularly caring about appearances, she left and began to search her ship. Of course, she fully intended to kill whoever it was. She couldn't allow someone dumb enough to try to steal from her to live.

Quietly, she was stalking around and checking every corridor. Whoever it was, they were managing to sneak around with a level of stealth that actually impressed her. That wasn't common at all.

Then it occurred to her, maybe they hadn't been moving much at all. She had yet to check the actual deck of the ship.

When she got there, she saw the outline of a person in the dim moonlight. They had a hood on, so she couldn't make out any facial features. That, and they weren't even facing her, but the ocean instead. Just who did this person think they were?

She ran up to the hooded figure and drew her sword with a precise, practiced swing that was quick enough that it would be extremely difficult to avoid for anyone. Yet the person turned at just the right time, seemingly knowing exactly how to move to mess with Raven's mind. The hood fell.

She was staring at a woman with medium length reddish hair that was possibly the most beautiful person she'd ever seen. Her eyes shone in the moonlight, a perfect reflection of it. They were mesmerizing. She faltered for a moment, so briefly that hopefully the other woman didn't notice, before asking, "What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

As if to insult her pride even further, the woman laughed.

-

Summer didn't know what she expected, but a sword against her neck was probably pretty close. What she did _not_ expect was for the person wielding it to be a beautiful young woman about her own age. She was tall, with long and unruly black hair that began to flow ever so slightly in the breeze. The lady's eyes were a bright red she didn't know was even possible, glowing with fury.

Understandable, it did seem like she was trying to steal from a pirate ship. "Wait. This was actually a pirate ship. Holy shit." She said, smiling and trying not to laugh. Failing at the latter, she could tell the woman in front of her was not amused.

It actually made her even angrier. "What did you _think_ it was?"

Summer had no proper response to that, so she decided to say something incredibly dumb instead. "Well, an abandoned pirate ship." The look on her face was priceless.

"How dumb are you?" The taller woman said with a pointed tone that was just as sharp as the sword she was holding.

For whatever reason, Summer found herself unable to respond to that question. Instead, she blurted out what she was thinking just because she thought it would be funny, based on the other woman's previous reactions. "You're pretty, did you know that?"

_That_ got one hell of a reaction. Now she was blushing enough that it was obvious even in the dim light of the night. So flirting with a pretty pirate lady was now something she could add to her resume, if she so desired. The look on her face was one of pure unbridled rage, but she was obviously getting more and more flustered by the second. Deciding to take a risk, she asked a question. "What's your name?" Then she felt the need to answer the previous question as well. "By the way, I'm not dumb. I just want to know you for some reason. I swear."

-

Raven truly had no idea what she was facing. This woman was bold enough to... compliment her? She could feel her heart racing, and she didn't know how much longer she could stand there and keep her sword to this woman's neck before she completely lost her composure. Then, she was asked a question that made her heart jump. A quick statement followed to try and quell her quickly building rage, but she chose to ignore that and focus on the question instead.

Her name? Why did this person want to know that? What was she planning?

"I have no reason to give you my name."

"That's a shame. Well, I'll give you mine, just so you have something to call me. Hi, I'm Summer Rose." There was that stupid fucking smug smile.

So her name was Summer. Summer Rose. It was a pretty name. Delicate, even. 

Then, she faltered. She slowly lowered her sword, sighing. "You didn't steal anything like I thought initially."

"Nah. Just wanted to check out a possibly once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Isn't there not really anybody on this part of the island? I thought it was just a forest. Yet you somehow noticed my ship, even though up until the shoreline, it's heavy brush."

"There's actually a perfect view of the cove from where I live. It's about a five minute walk, though."

Now Raven was confused as all hell. "...Do you live in the middle of the woods like some kind of witch?"

Summer laughed. Her laugh was bubbly and sweet. Wait, why was she thinking about that? Then she responded. "Some people might call me that, I guess. I always confuse people with everything I do."

"...Did you really come here with no weapon to defend yourself with?"

Summer smirked. Then, in a flash, Raven found herself pinned to the ground with a knife at her neck. Her heart was really racing now. What the hell was she facing? And why was she so excited?

"I always have at least a knife on me."

"I... can see that now." Raven stuttered, in shock. What was she doing? She had lost all semblance of a composure. Trying to find the words to counter, or even to move her body so she'd no longer be vulnerable, she couldn't seem to even do that.

"Now, I think I deserve to at least know what your name is. You were looking at me like you thought I wasn't worthy, or something of the sort. I could tell by how you carried yourself. You have a certain pride in what you do." Summer said, hitting way too close to home. Was she that easy to read? "Either that, or if you tell me your name, you're afraid I'll report you to the authorities or something. Or that I'd recognize you in some sort of bounty sort of deal. Is that about right?"

She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Opening her mouth to speak, she couldn't seem to find her voice. "A... mix of both, I guess. But I honestly don't think enough people even know who I am."

"Then just tell me. I think since I was able to do this, I should get to know your name."

"...Raven. Raven Branwen." _What was she doing?_

"Why didn't you just kill me when you had the chance?" Summer asked her. "Now I even know your name. Raven, huh. Fitting."

"I... don't know."

Summer then let her go, and decided to lay down next to her, staring up at the sky. Raven did the same, looking at the stars. She had always appreciated them. They stayed there in silence for what felt like an eternity.

Raven was still questioning every second of it. She turned her head to look at Summer. Her eyes were shining like the stars. She really was beautiful.

They had just met. She had literally just tried to kill this woman, and now they were just chilling in the middle of the night staring at the stars. What the hell was wrong with her? Had she somehow gotten soft?

No, that wasn't it. Summer wasn't some weak idiot. She was definitely strong in multiple aspects. She was probably also a way better person in general. Her genuine nature had thrown Raven so off guard that she couldn't help but be utterly captivated. She needed to know more.

After some more time, Summer broke the silence. "Raven."

"I know you're probably questioning everything right now. I'm doing the same, honestly." She sighed. "...How much longer will you be in the area?"

"Until next Sunday." It was the early hours of Tuesday. She remembered Qrow was out with the rest of the crew. If he found out about this, she was never going to hear the end of it. _Not_ just immediately killing an intruder purely because she was pretty and flirting with her? It was so unlike her, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I... have a brother that is going to bother me to no end when he returns here if he finds out about this."

"You have a brother? I can't imagine what that would be like. I'm an only child. Is he older, then?"

Now Raven was a bit insulted. "No. Well, we're twins. But I'm the older one, technically." She huffed, annoyed. Yes, they were twins, but she was going to hold the fact that she was older over him forever.

Summer started laughing. "Well, you seem pretty sensitive about that. Is it possible that the closer siblings are in age, the more the older one makes fun of the younger one? I wonder."

"You might be right." She cleared her throat. "Enough about that idiot. It seemed like you wanted to ask me something else as well. What was it?"

-

Summer wasn't prepared for Raven to actually realize she wanted to ask something else on top of how long she was staying. So she was actually pretty perceptive when not flustered. She'd figured that, but she wasn't ready for it to happen right at that moment. "Can... Can I show you around the town in the morning? I think I'd like to spend some more time with you." _Did she really just ask a kind of intimidating pirate lady on a date? Yes, she really did. Holy shit._

Raven actually wasn't that intimidating to her, but she would definitely scare the shit out of any average person, so it counted.

It took a second, and now Raven was looking at her with utter shock. "...I guess. I was going to take a look by myself to see if there was anything worthwhile anyway. It wouldn't hurt to have a local's expertise."

Summer smiled, honestly relieved that Raven said yes. _Holy shit, she was going on a date with a pirate._ Even if said pirate didn't really see it as one.

Well, she definitely did. She was blushing enough that even in the dim moonlight, it was prominent.

They said nothing else for a while longer. This time, Raven broke the silence. "Shouldn't you be getting home? I'd assume you live with somebody, and they might be confused if you're not there when they wake up."

"Not really, just my parents. They know I like to go out and stay elsewhere sometimes. This wouldn't be much different." Other than the fact that she was staying with someone that could've killed her at any moment.

"...Did you just invite yourself to stay with me tonight?"

"Maybe so."

-

_This sly little bitch._ Raven thought to herself, humming with amusement.

Eventually, she got up and showed Summer to her quarters. It was the only place where she'd be able to stay without anyone else finding out.

_I'm sharing a bed with a woman I just met maybe a couple of hours ago. What the fuck am I doing?_

She drifted to sleep with a familiar yet unfamiliar person next to her, and she had never felt weirder.

-

The next few days passed, with Raven and Summer growing closer by the minute. It was Saturday, and she was now going to have to figure out how to explain to Qrow that someone new would be joining the crew. As well as explaining how she got a girlfriend not actually girlfriend over the course of five days. 

She had no idea how she was going to do this. That was okay, though. She could live through some embarrassment, if her first meeting with Summer was anything to go by.


	2. day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angst. a lot of it. also kinda sorta theory ish because basically it's uhhh. what a lot of us stupid rosebird fans think abt the crumbs we got in vol 6/7 :)  
> theres a little bit of qrow towards the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw. apparently i did not format things right but i'm too lazy to fix the first chapter so this whole fic's just gonna be really spaced out. lmao. it looked fine on my laptop then on mobile it looked so weird

Raven's first big mistake was leaving. She knew that all too well. She even had so many chances to just go back, yet she didn't. Here she was, sitting with Summer, discussing plans to do exactly what a certain someone would be telling her to do anyway if she hadn't left. Fuck that guy, though. He had hidden so much, and she'd never trust him again.

"I think we can do it." Summer insisted.

"Why now, though?"

"It'll be the only chance we'd have without Ozpin finding out. He's hidden so much from us already, and I know how you feel about him."

She had a point. She wasn't wrong in any capacity.

Summer generally wasn't wrong about things. That was one of the many reasons Raven had trusted her enough to join her on this mission. It seemed perfectly plausible, an end to all of the bullshit Ozpin had put them through over the years. Both of them knew this was the reason why Raven had left in the first place. Even though she had left, she regularly checked in on Summer, whether it was via Qrow or just herself.

They were talking in a bar that Raven liked to visit whenever she had to talk to her former teammate. Her former partner. _Former._ They had been so close, and yet she'd ruined everything. "The tribe needed me." She'd say, but they all knew that wasn't the reason. She was scared, and she didn't want to admit it.

Even though Summer made her less scared when they were together, she still left. She didn't even realize it until she was alone again how at home she felt. She'd never even realized just how much Summer had meant to her.

Maybe that was why she agreed to go with. Together with Summer again, she felt unstoppable. So they headed off without telling anyone about their plan.

That was her second mistake.

When they faced Salem together, they had both learned the horrifying truth. _Salem couldn't die._ When it seemed like she had, she had quite literally come back from the dead. Or that's what it looked like. There were too many thoughts racing through Raven's head for her to see exactly what happened. She wasn't dead, and she was _angry_. 

Between trying to dodge various attacks, she couldn't think. She kept glancing over to Summer in between blasts of deadly magic. Fire and lightning were being constantly shot at them. Panic was setting in for both of them. They needed to get away. They needed time to think.

They were both running out of aura, too. It was something they seemed to have over Salem, but all the aura in the world didn't matter to an immortal woman with extremely strong magic. There wasn't much more time. If either of them took a hit, it would be over. They'd be another number lost to an impossible war.

Raven had a feeling it was impossible from the beginning. It was just her intuition. Why did it have to be right? It really was impossible to beat Salem.

Then, she felt intense heat as a fireball hit her from quite a distance. Her aura shattered. The feeling of aura breaking was never nice. It wasn't necessarily painful, usually exhausting instead; but this time, it was both. She'd collapsed on impact. Unable to get up due to the pain, she quickly swung an ice dust blade, activating it to form a small barrier between herself and Salem. There was smoke surrounding the area, so they probably had about a minute before the onslaught continued. Summer was already by her side, and she could see the panic on her face. Tears were dropping from those silver eyes she loved.

"Rae, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I dragged you into this!" She was trying not to sob, it was obvious.

Raven interrupted her before she could continue apologizing. "Shut up. I came with you willingly." She sighed. "We only have until the smoke clears. I think even Salem can get tired, so she's probably just waiting until we do something again. So what's the plan?"

"You're not able to fight now, but you're not in immediate danger either. I think the best bet we have on surviving is making it look like you're dying and stuck under some debris. She'd play that up against me, and I'll act like it's over, and buy you some time to get your aura back to a level where you can use your semblance to get us out of here."

That was the one thing they did have on Salem. She was actually fairly predictable. Since she tended to use other people and not do things herself, it was more like her to try and taunt Summer into attacking in a blind fit of rage.

So they did. By the time the smoke cleared, they had her under a large rock that had fallen during the fight. There, it looked like she was unconscious, but really, she was trying to see if her aura had recharged enough at every second. Summer was shouting a variety of profanities at Salem while deliberately aggravating her. She was a really good actress when she had to be. It was almost funny.

After a few agonizing minutes, she finally felt the telltale signs of her aura starting to come back. She could subtly tap into the passive effects of her semblance now. She just had to find the right moment to use it. Certain that Salem's eyes were off her now, she looked up, trying to gauge how far away Summer was. The window of time she had was very small, and she couldn't let her aura break again from trying to heal her burns. It had to be the perfect moment, in the perfect place.

She could feel Summer's rage. It was genuine, to her surprise. Or maybe it wasn't a huge surprise, she could imagine several reasons why. First of all, Raven was wrong about her first big mistake.

Her real first big mistake was trusting Ozpin. He'd so blatantly lied to them. How many people was he going to sacrifice in this pointless war? He was sending young people out to fight against something that couldn't be killed. How was anyone supposed to fight that?

Then, she left, and she still regretted that, even at this very moment. She had a lot of regrets, but that was her biggest one. Even if she chose to go back after this, there wasn't even a guarantee she would make it out.

Summer was losing momentum. It was subtle, but after years of knowing her and fighting by her side, it was obvious to Raven. She was tired, and wasn't able to keep this up for much longer at all. It had to be now, or never.

Before she could even move, there was a flash. _Her eyes._ Then a scream. Pain that wasn't hers. _Shit!_

Salem was screaming in agony in the distance. Even though she couldn't be killed, silver eyes still did something to her.

Without thinking, Raven had transformed into a bird and flew over to Summer, changing back midair, using a gravity dust blade to make the ground come up and form a wall in front of them both, to hopefully buy some more time. She landed roughly, forcing her aura to not automatically try to heal her. She didn't have enough to spare to do that. Her leg stung, but she could deal with that. Her head hurt, but she could deal with that. What she _couldn't_ deal with was that she saw her partner laying on the ground in a small pool of blood. _Shit._

_"Sum. Summer! Are you there?"_ She shouted, kneeling by her side, trying not to panic while she heard Salem's frustrated screaming in the background.

"R... Raven.." Summer opened her eyes and looked at her with a sad smile.

"No. Don't you go and fucking die on me like this. I can get you back and you can get help."

"We don't have time for you to carry me." She coughed up blood. This was really fucking bad, but Raven didn't want to admit it.

As if on cue, a blast of energy blew part of the wall to pieces, and she was barely able to dodge a rock that would've probably shattered her skull on impact.

"Rae, just run. I don't know if I'll even.. live long enough to get help. Just get out of here before it's too late!"

She only had a few seconds to make her decision.

In those few seconds, she decided to make her third, no, her fourth huge mistake.

Blinking away tears, she stood up shakily. "I.. I'm so sorry, Summer." In that moment, the rest of the wall was blown to pieces, and one of them hit Raven right in her back as she opened a portal to Qrow.

She fell through, aura shattering again, right in front of her brother. Luckily, it seemed he was alone, but she didn't know where he was. She didn't even notice his expression, she just laid on the floor in agony. In spite of the physical and emotional pain she was feeling, she managed to speak, snapping at him. "D.. Don't fucking ask." She muttered, angry at herself that she had just done that. Why did she leave Summer behind? What the hell was she thinking?

-

Qrow was enjoying an evening to himself at his apartment before he'd have to go out on another mission. He didn't expect to see Raven collapse through a portal in obvious pain and distress then of all times. This happened every once in a while, but mostly when they were younger. She'd get too deep into some shit, then use him as an outlet. He didn't mind most of the time. As usual when she did this, she told him not to ask what the hell just happened.

"I don't even bother when you pull this shit, you've done it enough times." He sighed, then he noticed she was crying. Something was _very_ wrong, but she'd never tell. She never did like talking about anything whenever something was wrong.

He helped her up, taking her to the spare bedroom. She didn't seem to be injured too badly, but there was definitely something else wrong. He decided to just let her rest, then maybe he'd be able to ask her about it in the morning before he'd have to leave in the afternoon.

She was already gone by morning. She never did like to say goodbye.

-

Several months later, Qrow had contacted her. They met in the usual bar. "Summer's... gone. Apparently she went alone on a mission, and she was supposed to be back a couple of months ago. Nothing from her at all." He paused to take a drink. "There's... very little chance of her being alive."

As if she didn't already know that. Yet hearing it still made her hurt. Then he asked her what she feared he'd ask. "...Can you tell if she's alive or not?"

She'd tried. She'd _been_ trying to tell for months. "No. I can't." She wasn't lying, and that was what hurt the most. "I have no fucking clue why I can't tell, either. I'd be able to confirm it for sure, but... I can't tell at all." Had she died right then when Raven left? Or was she alive and managed to sever the bond somehow?

She'd never be able to answer that, and it was her biggest regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was looping yozora wa nandemo shitteru no while writing this because its very sad and gay go look up the lyrics for rosebird brainworms

**Author's Note:**

> i may or may not have listened to aqours pirates desire on repeat while writing this.  
> o ya i drew art based on me fic @kyuruyo on twitter and tumblr :D


End file.
